Memory Or Dream?
by LastWhiteRose
Summary: He had been woken up by a strange dream. While he wasn't sure if it was a dream or a memory he did remember having this "dream" a few times in the past two years, but he didn't have substantial proof of whether it had happened or if his mind had created.


**Summary: He had been woken up by a strange dream. While he wasn't sure if it was a dream or a memory he did remember having this "dream" a few times in the past two years, but he didn't have substantial proof of whether it had happened or if his mind had created it while he was sleeping.**

* * *

Carter stared at the dark ceiling. He turned on his side and stared at the window. He had been woken up by a strange dream. While he wasn't sure if it was a dream or a memory he did remember having this "dream" a few times in the past two years, but he didn't have substantial proof of whether it had happened or if his mind had created it while he was sleeping. Carter sighed and shut his eyes hoping to fall back to sleep. It was then that his dream reoccured.

_A younger Carter sat on the gurney outside of the ambulance. He had a blanket wrapped around him and was breathing into some funky tube. The paramedic said it was to help him because of the smoke inhalation. As his parents talked with the police officers, his mind kept wandering back to the fireman who had saved him. He wondered if he was okay or if he had even made it out alive. He wanted so badly to get up and ask the other fireman if the one who had saved him was okay. He sighed and shook his head._

_"You probably shouldn't do that," He looked up at a little girl, about his age standing in front of him. He gave her a lookthat showed he was confused. "You were just inside and with all that smoke, you're gonna get dizzy and you might pass out." He looked at her. She was smaller than him and had very light blonde hair that was pulled back in a braid. She was wearing a pink sundress and white sneakers and was holding a teddy bear._

_"Do you live around here?" He asked._

_"No," She said slowly, clearly confused by his question._

_"Then why are you here?" He asked. _

_"My daddy's one of the fireman," She said. "And my babysitter got sick so I had to go to work with him." He nodded slowly. He had a bunch of questions of why she had to go to work with her dad, but he figured it was best not to pry._

_"So where is he?" Carter asked slowly. She shrugged and sighed._

_"They shooed me away when I tried to ask," She said. "But I know my daddy will be okay." She looked at him. "Are you okay?"_

_"I guess," Carter said. "It was scary, feeling so helpless, not knowing what's going to happen to me." He looked at her and saw the look on her face. "What's wrong?"_

_"Nothing," She said quietly. "It's just I was in an accident when I was really young and," Her voice trailed off and she looked down at her feet. He could tell the memory was painful and decided he didn't want her to continue._

_"So how do you know so much about medical stuff," Carter said changing the subject. She looked up._

_"Well I've always been interested and I've spent alot of time around paramedics because of my daddy's job," She explained. "Plus I've always really wanted to be a doctor." He smiled at her and she blushed a little and looked down at her teddy bear. "What about you?"_

_"What about me?" Her question had confused him. She looked up._

_"What do you want to be?" Carter grew quiet and his smiled disappeared. He wasn't one of those kids who was impractical and planned to be an astonaut or the president when they were older. Truthfully, Carter didn't know the answer. He never responded when the teacher would ask the class and if he was forced to, he would usually say something logical, like that he didn't know and wouldn't know until he was older. But now it wasn't his teacher asking or his annoying classmates, it was her. She didn't really know him and was just curious and she had also told him so it seemed fair that he would do the same. They were both silent until Carter took a breath._

_"A fireman," Now it was her turn to be confused._

_"Really?" She asked. "But you were just in a fire, why would you want to have a job that involves you running into burning buildings after," She trailed off again, only this time because she couldn't even find a way to sensibly point out why he wasn't making sense._

_"I know it sounds crazy," Carter said. "But I know what it's like to be in there and I don't think anyone deserves that feeling of helplessness. Plus the fireman who saved me was so heroic and if I could be like that." He stopped and looked at the girl. _

_"So you really want to be a fireman?" She asked. He smiled._

_"Yeah I really do," She looked at him carefully before smiling as well. She looked down at the teddy bear she was holding and looked back up at him._

_"Here," She said holding the bear out to him. He took the bear and noticed just then that it was dressed as a fireman. "For good luck."_

_"Good luck?" He asked looking back up at her._

_"Well I'm sure training to become a fireman will be hard," She said. "Plus it's dangerous and everyone needs some good luck." She looked around. "I think I have to go."_

_"It was nice talking to you," Carter said. _

_"You too," She said. "Bye." She quickly headed off. He smiled in the direction she took off before looking down at the bear again._

Carter woke up again. In all the times he had had that "dream", he had never seen the end of it. He started to remember the bear and quietly got out of the bed. He walked over to the closet and slowly opened the door hoping it wouldn't make any sounds. He began searching through the closet, quietly moving shoes and other objects out of the way. He kept digging through the closet until he found the box he had been looking for. He pulled the box out from it's spot and opened it. He dug through all the other unimportant objects in search of what he was looking for. He felt something soft at the bottom of the box and slowly pulled it out. This little object proved it, it was a memory not a dream. He walked back over to the bed holding the bear. As he settled back down to fall asleep the gears started turning in his head.

"The little girl," He said quietly looking down at the bear. He rolled over to the other side and looked at his wife who was fast asleep. He felt bad about it, knowing she was going to have to wake up soon to go to work, but he still gently shook her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him.

"Yes?" She asked while yawning a little.

"There's something that's been bugging me," He said. She nodded for him to continue. "Well I kept having this dream but it seemed more like a memory, but I wasn't sure. And then I found this." He placed the old teddy bear in between the two of them and his wife smiled which caused him to smirk a little. She gently picked up the bear and looked at it. "That was you that day." She looked up at him still smiling. "The knowledgeable little girl who wanted to be a doctor."

"When did you figure it out?" She asked.

"Just now," Carter said. "I had never really remember the whole day fully until now. Did you know?"

"Kind of," She said. "There were hints here and there but it was definetly obvious after I went through that box of yours." Carter gaped at her.

"I would have never thought of you as a snoop Dana," Carter said. Dana laughed a little.

"Well it wasn't on purpose," She said. "I found the box in the closet after our mission with the Time Force Rangers was complete. The box was open and I saw the bear on top."

"I found the bear on the bottom," Carter said.

"Well after I found it I hid the bear back on the bottom and closed the box," Dana said. "And then I returned it to you." She smiled. "I'm sure you remember that day." He smiled at her and kissed her on the lips. After a minute or so she pulled away and looked at him. "So was it good luck?"

"What?"

"The bear silly," Dana said smacking Carter's arm. "I gave you that bear for good luck, was it?" Carter looked down at the bear. So many things had happened since that day. He looked back up at Dana who was patiently waiting for a response.

"I've mostly had nothing but good luck," He said. Dana smiled and snuggled up against him. As Carter began to fall asleep he picked up the old teddy bear and looked at it. He smiled before placing it on his nightstand. He slid his arms around Dana's waist and finally fell asleep.


End file.
